An independent arbitrator has ruled in favour of Calgary Flames defenceman Dennis Wideman, reducing his suspension from 20 games to 10.

He’ll be in the lineup against Arizona tonight:

Dennis Wideman will be in the lineup tonight. #ARIvsCGY

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 11, 2016

Great news, right? Only problem is that due to the snail’s pace process, he’s already missed 19 games.

Dennis Wideman's suspension has been reduced from 20 to 10 games. He's already missed 19… #NHLMath pic.twitter.com/Ht903Vvosr

— Tim and Sid (@timandsid) March 11, 2016

Wideman hit linesman Don Henderson hard enough to send him to the hospital, in a game against the Nashville Predators on January 27. It took a full week for the NHL to hand down a ruling against Wideman and then another two weeks to appeal it with the impartial one, Gary Bettman.

And now, three weeks after Bettman upheld the suspension, we get the verdict from independent arbitrator James Oldham.

Arbitrator James Oldham rules there isn't evidence to support idea Wideman intended to injure linesman Henderson. pic.twitter.com/UtrzRdqTKO

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 11, 2016

Oldham concluded that what Wideman did was physical abuse of an official, but there was not enough evidence to conclude that the act was intentional.

The NHL, of course, disagreed with the arbitrator’s decision.

NHL statement on Wideman suspension. pic.twitter.com/gGOJ9pWFIz

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 11, 2016

An interesting twist in this story included a follow up on the infamous text sent by Wideman that Bettman used as evidence in the appeal.

The infamous Dennis Wideman text — "…stupid refs and stupid media" — was sent to Gregory Campbell, per James Oldham's opinion.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 11, 2016

Gregory Campbell has never played with Wideman, although they were once traded for each other. Gregory is the son of Colin Campbell, who works for the NHL, so this is a very peculiar development. Well, if it’s true that is…

Spoke to D Wideman and he wants it clear "the text introduced in #NHL hearing was definitely sent to a teammate and not to Gregory Campbell"

— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) March 11, 2016

This has been a bizarre case from the get-go, so I guess it’s only fitting that some uncertainties remain.

The Flames went 5-5-0 without Wideman in the lineup for the first ten games of his suspension, and went 2-5-2 in the last nine games that were repealed. Unfortunately for the Flames (or fortunately, if you’re part of ‘Team Tank’) they will not get to replay the last nine games that Wideman should have played in.

While the Flames won’t get reimbursed for the games Wideman should have played in, the 32-year-old defenceman will get back $282,258 of the $564,516 he was going to forfeit.